SU Voice Alumni Blog

Seattle U’s Career Services office is working to develop strong mentor programs, focused on giving Seattle U students and graduates real world experience and a competitive edge in their careers, while providing employers with highly prepared and well informed applicants.

Recently, 15 students in pre-health majors were matched with alumni and community members for job shadow experiences in their fields of interest. Stacy Lu, General Science major participated in hopes of learning more about being a pharmacist. “This mentor program not only allowed me to meet with a pharmacist, but the manager who oversees all of the other pharmacists. This experience was exactly what I needed because I finally decided that a path in pharmacy is what I want to do.”

Stacy’s mentor, Hung Troung, PhD, ’96, pharmacy manager at Virginia Mason Medical Center, encourages other alumni and their employers to participate in the program because “companies have a difficult time finding qualified candidates. By acting as a mentor, you help your organization by creating an individual prepared to fill your position after they graduate.”

Whether you live near or far, we need Seattle University alumni to sign up to mentor current students and recent alumni. You can select the activities and amount of time that work for your schedule. Mentoring can take many different forms such as:

Tony Capeloto is a 2011 Albers Graduate, a financial advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors, and on a mission to get the Seattle University Young Alumni Chapter off the ground. “I hope to establish real benefits and services for alumni, and increase the effectiveness of the alumni association, to create something with a wide reach and a real impact.”

When looking for colleges, Tony Capeloto knew that he wanted to attend a school in the Seattle area where he could grow professionally and develop a network of contacts that would lead to a job in the fast-paced city he loved. It was Seattle University’s location that put it on his radar.

A Seattle native, Tony attended Blanchet high School where a teacher first introduced him to Fr. Romero, S.J. and the Jesuit philosophy. It was that Jesuit identity that made Seattle U appeal to Tony above the other area schools.

“The most important thing I learned at SU was to give as much as you can. This is why I’ve become so interested in the Young Alumni Chapter. I’m local. I have established connections in the area. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be someone from out of the area who only has 4-years to develop those relationships and then walk across the stage at graduation hoping to find a job. We spend all this time and energy on people who are so valuable to our community, and then we lose them to their home state because they can’t find a job.”

Tony got his first job out of college through the Career Services Redhawk Network. He began working for a small firm where he was licensed to sell securities. He soon decided he wanted to provide his clients with more resources, and reached out to family friend who became his business partner, mentor and brought him to Wells Fargo Advisors. “It’s these types of relationships that SU alumni need. Everyone I’ve met from SU has been willing to give their time and advice. We have this great energy, but we have no way to channel it.”

Tony is leading efforts to build Seattle University’s Young Alumni Chapter so more recent alumni feel connected to the Seattle University Alumni Association. He envisions a group that is fun, effective and beneficial, and centered on bringing alumni together to create a strong community. “The benefits are exponential when you work together, and that’s a lesson that can be applied to all aspects of life.”

If you are interested in taking a more active role in the Seattle University Alumni Association or the Young Alumni Chapter, email alumni@seattleu.edu.

My life at Seattle University began in the spring, when I accepted my admittance. At that moment, I began to envision my life in Seattle and what being a student at Seattle University would be like. Fast forward four years, and my time at Seattle University is coming to a close in the summer. The time I spent at Seattle University went by faster than I ever imagined it could have, and as I begin to prepare myself for the next stage in my life, I keep wondering what will happen between me and the University that has informed and helped change so much of who I am today.

To compare who I was before coming to Seattle University and who I am now wouldn’t be fair. Before coming to Seattle, I didn’t have many opportunities in high school to be engaged or to be a leader. Coming to Seattle University my first year, I was somewhat overwhelmed walking into the Street Fair fall quarter and seeing how many clubs existed. Excited, I signed up for as many as I possibly could (a freshman mistake, I now realize). Over the years, my commitment to some of these groups declined as others flourished, presenting me with my first opportunity to really discern what was important to me and why.

Now I am confronted with a new type of excitement and fear as I look into my future away from academia. In the end, I am ready to walk across the stage and accept my diploma, as well as my different role in the world. A part of what helps me to be so excited and ready for this transition is that I know I can always come back to Seattle University and still have a place within the community. While I may not be as involved post-graduation as I was during my undergrad years, I intend to be as involved as I can be with the University that has given me so many opportunities.

If I had to synthesize in one word what Seattle University embodies, it wouldn’t be easy, but I’d have to say: care. All around the campus, the care that faculty, staff, professors, students, and alumni have is evident. It’s not just care for those around them, but also the care they have for their job and the tasks in front of them. This care transforms into dedication and persistence, contributing to the aware and active campus that Seattle University can boast. I know that this care will enable me to go out into the world and do what I am passionate about most, while remembering where I have come from.

As anxious as I am to be gone from Seattle University, I am fortunate to have avoided moments of panic when looking for jobs or dread when thinking about walking across that stage. Seattle University upholds its mission of educating the whole person, evident in the way that SU grads have the foundation of knowledge for their area of study, as well as the assurance and ability to present that knowledge to the world. I am graduating with this confidence, a fact that not many new college graduates can claim. As sad as I am to be leaving my home for the past four years, I look forward to staying connected and to visiting Seattle University in the years to come, not to see friends, but to be with family.